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Darkhold
The Darkhold, sometimes called "The Book of Sins", "The Book of the Damned" or "Shiatra", is a terrible book of the darkest magic imaginable. It is believed to have been created by a collection of Old Ones who, aware that their time was drawing to a close, placed some of their essence into the book. The book, and all the pages within, are enchanted and are utterly indestructible. It is also able to be read by anyone who opens it. It corrupts the souls of any who attempt to cast the spells within, save the members of the Montesi Family. The pages of the book shift and change, the contents of most pages appearing in the language of whomever is reading the book. The content of some pages within the book even changes to show the reader how to achieve their darkest desires. The Darkhold has been used as a source for some of the most terrible books of magic ever written -- the Books of Ascension, and Darkest Magick among others. Some theorize the Grimoire used by the Source of All Evil may even have used the Darkhold as a source. It is often compared to the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. History The Darkhold was first discovered in Atlantis in 18,500 BCE, though it was already old by this point. A cult formed around the book and practice of its dark magicks began. The cult was quickly banished from Atlantis. When the cult came under attack from Kull, the Darkholders used its magic to create the vampire Varnae. The power contained within the Darkhold allowed a number of Old Ones to attempt to reclaim the Earth in 8,010 BCE, though the effort was stopped. Throughout history, the Darkhold traveled the world, largely without consequence, until the sixth century when Morgana Le Fay came into possession of the book. Over six hundred years later, a monk named Aelfric obtained the Darkhold. He was killed for committing heresy, and his soul was bound within the pages of the book. The Vatican took possession of the Darkhold, and Paolo Montesi was named the caretaker of the book due to his apparent incorruptibility. Varnae laid siege to the Vatican soon afterwards, killing Paolo just as his son Giacomo Montesi was born. Giacomo soon discovered that pages of the Darkhold had gone missing over the years, and went in search of them. Varnae killed Giacomo, and the task was taken over by Marcello Montesi. Marcello tracked Darkhold pages to Tibet. Varnae, learning of a spell on those pages that would destroy all vampires, sought to stop Marcello. Ultimately, Marcello recovered the spell but found he was unable to decipher it. It would become known as the Montesi Formula. Many years later, Vlad Dracula learnd of the Montesi Formula. He hired Cagliostro to steal the pages from the Vatican. Although the theft was not entirely successful, the Darkhold itself was lost for hundreds of years. In 1948 CE, the Darkhold emerged in Istanbul and fell into the possession of Baron Gregory Russoff. The Darkhold awakened a long dormant lycanthropy gene in Russoff, and in each of his descendants. Upon Russoff's death, his estate was sold. Miles Blackgar purchased the estate, including the Darkhold. Sources The Darkhold is derived from the item of the same name from Marvel comics. Category:Books Category:Artifacts Category:Darkhold Cult Category:Spellbooks